eaboo316

I doubt she has that much power...the admissions committee is a committee for a reason, multiple opinions are taken into account. The stats that she gives may be what SHE wanted but not what the whole committee decided.

I can't speak for other research assistants, but the current job I have right now is not even close to what I plan to study, but I was looking for a new experience which is why I was hired. I do not regret taking this job, I have learned so much and obtained many skills that I know will be helpful for me in graduate school. I can PM you where I am working right now, if you are interested. It is unfortunately out of your state, though (but still on the East Coast!) It is always helpful asking professors/advisers from your university about possible job openings (networking is great!). If your school has a job posting site, be sure to check that out. I found it helpful to google "psychology research assistant/lab manager jobs in ______" when I was looking. Good luck! Taking a year off between undergrad and graduate school has been a great experience!

Hi all! I'm very excited to be attending Stanford next Fall. I'll be enrolled in the Developmental and Psychological Sciences PhD housed in the Department of Education. I just filled out my housing application today, and I'm super excited!!

I agree with the posters above as well. I am in a very similar situation as you are (regarding the difference in stipend, research fit, basically everything), and because I may want to pursue a career outside academia (and for various other reasons as well), I am deciding to choose my equivalent to your school Y. It also may be helpful to e-mail your potential adviser at school Y to see if they would be able to really help you facilitate your studies if that would ease your worries. I feel much better about my choice now after e-mailing my adviser and having them tell me that they are confident that I would be able to study what I am currently interested in. I also agree with midnight streetlight, in that they would not have accepted you into the program if they did not believe they could help you with your research. Graduate school admissions are very selective (as I'm sure everyone knows), and Ivy schools even moreso. Based on that fact, I believe you would be able to study what you're interested in. It's also great you were able to talk to current students who study the area you want to research, because if you choose to attend school Y's program, they will be a very valuable resource for you in terms of advice and mentorship. Good luck with your decision! I know it's very tough to make a decision based on these factors, but be confident with whichever school you decide on and I'm sure you will make the best choice for you.

My initial expectation was I would not get accepted anywhere. Yes, I was very pessimistic, especially after not hearing from anyone the whole month January (because I know good news precedes bad news). I applied to 10 schools, got accepted to 3, rejected to one after interview with an additional 5 rejections, and waitlisted at 1. What surprised me the most was my acceptance to Stanford! I totally did not even put that in the equation in my head in which I decided which of the schools I applied to I would like to attend most (because I was so sure I would get rejected from it), so it was a very pleasant surprise (my first acceptance too)! My interview was from a top Developmental Psych program (didn't work out in the end because PI decided not to accept any grad students foe next Fall), and the other program I got accepted, along with the one I got waitlisted, are one of the top in Developmental Psych/HDFS as well, and were the best ranked programs I applied to. I definitely had very mediocore GPA and GRE scores, which is why I was so surprised at my results. I could say that the schools that outright rejected me were those that just looked at those scores and said "no," but that's just me justifying myself. I do really think some schools look at the whole application (or at least the parts that make the most sense to look at like the LORs and SOPs) and some don't even bother. And I do agree that the process is so random, because I did not see myself as an ideal PhD student in the least. But now, I have much more confidence going into [most likely] Stanford's program in the Fall. Crazy how everything works out in the end!

Although I am using objective criteria for comparing two departments I am deciding between, I am relying on my gut feeling as well. The visits for both schools were great, but I really fell in love with school A during the visit more than school B. School B definitely offers me great opportunities relating to research, as well as great faculty conducting research I am interested in (school A has a great research fit as well, but not as great as school but I did not get the greatest vibe when visiting there... I can't really explain it. I just feel like school A would offer me better opportunities in the long run than school B (and I was blown away during the visit). Faculty from school B even advised me to use my gut feeling for my decision!

When making a decision like this, I think it's best to think as practically as you can. It's great that you can admit that the reasoning you gave is superficial, but please think about which situation would be best for your family, not your pride or bragging rights. I'm impressed that you were able to get such an amazing job offer with a masters! A research scientist position sounds like a position for a PhD, especially with that salary, but you were able to get such a position without going through 5-7 more years of education, that's really great and you should be proud of yourself! If you did not have others who depended on you, then I would say go for the PhD, however that is not your case. I understand you are stressed out, especially since you have a high priority for your self-fulfillment, but think ahead of the situation and decide what would be best for your family and quality of life with your family. Don't worry about what others are thinking of your position, know that you worked hard for this position and would be doing what's best for you and your family (and like mentioned before, you can always pursue a PhD later if the urge is still there).

Wow, you got yourself a tough situation here but that's because you're choosing between some wonderful offers! Congratulations!! If I were in your position, I think I would take the job without accepting either of the graduate school offers. Graduate school itself (from what I hear) is like a full time job, and if you want to get the best out of the program, I don't think having a full-time job is advisable. On a side note, that would be so much commuting! Your gas expenses would skyrocket, plus that much time spent in the car could be well-spent somewhere else. Also, since you and your wife have a baby on the way, consider how much time you would be able to spend with your family. Full-time job + graduate school does not equal enough quality time with mommy and baby, in my opinion. The job sounds like it would provide the best support for you and your family as well. I read above that the reason you would like to pursue a PhD is to do research. How about the research you would be doing at the full-time job? I think you should consider all these factors when making your decision, especially your family. You are young, and you can always pursue a PhD later if the urge is still there, but that is such an incredible job offer and I think you should accept it! You may find out that you enjoy the job so much that the desire to apply to a PhD program will be gone. Hope that helped a little!

When I got my first official acceptance (which is most likely the program I will attend), I was at an informal dinner as part of an interview weekend for another university. The acceptance was also to the highest ranked school I applied to, so that definitely brought by confidence up for the interview. The only bummer was that I couldn't really shout the news to anyone in proximity...would've been a bit of an awkward situation haha.

I really love the positive replies to this post that the PhD job market is not so bad! In one of the PhD programs I got accepted to, there was a report that 23/24 of graduates in 2012 were able to obtain a position with a great median salary (and that last person was put as currently searching, but hey they may have found a job now). I have read really negative articles about PhD's not finding job opportunities, so it is great hearing positive news from you guys. With a lot of hard work and preparation beforehand it should be possible!

Tubulin, I totally understand where you are coming from. I do think location is important in making a decision, because you don't want to be unhappy where you will be living, right? Also, take into account other factors surrounding the location such as the culture of the town you're in, what students do for fun, etc. My situation is a little different since I will be spending the next 5-7 years of my life at my program, but I know someone who said that he was totally fine living in a rural area (from a diverse, urban area) during the two years of his masters program because he was in the library the whole time. If I was in your situation, I personally think you should choose school A. It is kind of contradictory to what I said above (my situation is a little different and you can PM me if you want to know why), but I don't think the more comfortable/familiar location is worth sacrificing all the benefits of school A. Like the poster said above, it also may be a great way to discover more about yourself. Also, a masters program with funding sounds great, because not many people have such a luxury. Not being in debt after your program is a great situation to have, especially since you think school A would better develop you as a scientist (might be more able to get a job or admitted into a PhD program with better training). PM me if you have any more questions! And make sure you are 100% sure of the decision you'll make, and that you won't regret it. I'm sure you will make the best decision for yourself, because in the end it is your life, not any of ours.

Since we are nearing to the end of the application cycle with some of us fortunate enough to hold multiple offers, I thought it would be helpful to start a thread on some questions to ask faculty and graduate students to help you make that final decision. Right now, I am deciding between two programs and it's a really, really tough decision. But, I find myself asking more, in-depth questions than I did for the interview. Here are some questions I came up with, and please feel free to reply to this thread and add your input. I'm sure it will help a lot of people out since there are many who are still waiting for responses! The questions I put here are in the frame of a doctoral program, so masters people, please add your input as well! Questions to ask faculty What do you suggest is most important for a student to focus on during their first year? (I think this is important to ask because many programs require a lot of coursework during the first year, so it will be a way to find out if your adviser will be understanding of the coursework you have if you are having trouble balancing coursework and research assistantships) What responsibilities will I have as a research assistant for the first year? (You can also ask for second year and beyond). What projects will I be working on? (If this is important to you) What mentorship opportunities are available for graduate students? Will I be supervising undergraduates for research projects or assigned as an undergraduate adviser? What positions have your recently graduated students received? On average, how long does it take one to complete the program? What opportunities are available for summer work? (also can ask graduate students of what their summers have been like). When do your students usually start working on articles to publish? Questions to ask graduate students How supportive is your adviser and faculty in your success? Are advisers flexible based on the student's needs (like a hand-on or a hands-off approach). Did you find yourself pursuing the same research interests you came in with, or did you end up finding new interests to pursue? (Great question to ask for schools where you may not have the perfect research fit) How many articles have you published in your time in the program? (For advanced students) Do you feel that the training you received has prepared you to obtain a career in [insert whatever career they are pursuing]? Does your department encourage collaboration? If so, how did you go about collaborating with faculty outside your department? (If this is important to you), are there opportunities for students to design their own study and collect and analyze their own data? Are there resources on campus that support fellowship and grant proposals? Is there a writing center to give feedback on writing? Are you able to live comfortably with your stipend without taking out any loans? How is the culture of [city your university is located?] What do people usually do for fun (if one has time for that, that is haha). What do you wish you knew before you started the program? I feel like I can add more and more, but I will stop. Also ask more specific questions if you are interested in a certain part of the program like methodology training or getting involved with different centers. Feel free to add more!

I totally understand how you feel. :/ I did not get rejected from Columbia but another school in which I paid over $200 for the application (!!). Thankfully, it was one of the few fees I had to pay. BUT, regardless of that large fee, I was not able to find out I was rejected until I contacted the program director who was quick to respond and say I was rejected in one short sentence of about 15 words. I Another bad part is, that they are planning to send out "official" letters at the end of March, so they already know the decisions yet they just wait to tell people, which I think is terrible considering the fee everyone pays. I know a lot of schools do this, but I was really turned off by this particular school because the correspondence I have had with other schools have been great (even if I was rejected they were really nice and wished me well), while the people at this school just sounded indifferent and uncaring. Totally turned me off. Anyways, just wanted to say I know how you feel. It is really frustrating, and I know the rejection is really disappointing, but that just means you have so many more opportunities somewhere else that may be even better for you. Keep your head up and good luck!

I totally did the same thing when I visited a school this past weekend! I was accepted to the school (have not officially taken the offer yet), and I bought a bunch of things for family and friends from the bookstore and spent so much! haha. I will most likely go to this school but have another school visit that may change my mind. For more merchandise, I am going to wait until I am officially a student...maybe students get some sort of discount.

Congrats! I am waiting to hear from them, I applied for their Developmental Psychology and Education PhD program. I did not get any interview, (except for one way back in October/November before I officially submitted the application), so I am thinking the outcome is not so well, but I guess I can only wait and see. Hopefully, they will let me know soon enough, I anticipate making my decision by the end of next week. I have a question to ask you, I will sent it in a PM. Congrats again!!